DeeDee's Darlings

Today was the girls' last day of daycare. We made brownies to share and the girls signed Thank You cards for DeeDee and Sandi. The girls have been going to DeeDee's every work day since they were 21 months old. I remember before they started, DeeDee was so nervous to have twins. DeeDee will always be considered part of the family. We know it's not the last the girls will see of DeeDee, but it definitely will be a change for them not to be at her house every day. Marcus of course will still be there; he will actually become one of the "big" kids (DeeDee sent 5 kids to Kindergarten this year)! Thank you DeeDee for taking such good care of our girls! We Love You!

Good Morning

We are taking advantage of the cooler mornings; it's the only time to avoid the aggressive bees too. The forecast says 92 today! That's HOT! Marcus wanted to play outside this morning and I agreed that was a great idea. So I took my coffee and paper and sat on the porch to watch him play. Marc is off fishing on the coast so it's just me and the kids this weekend. Yesterday was filled with organizing the house and shopping for school clothes and shoes.

Olivia has been quite the Mommy. I got stung by a bee on my foot yesterday and for a while I couldn't even walk. I said "Olivia, what am I going to do?" Emma got me some ice and Olivia said "I think I can make dinner Mommy"...so sweet. I assured her that I would be ok though...but she was ready to step up. These are her new shoes for school. Aren't they cute?

This morning she said she was off to work. Marcus decided he needed to go to work too and he wanted to drive his motorcycle just like Daddy does every day.

Emma's had a rough morning so far. She hurt her hand on the shed door while trying to feed Tucker. She fell on the pavement while trying to get the paper. She was trying to get dressed quickly and Olivia left her...it's just not a good day so far for poor Miss Emma.

We got her dressed and ready for "work" too and the smile suddenly appeared. Here's the group ready for work.

The girls also wanted to show you all our corn. The garden actually produced pretty well this year. Even though we planted late so far we've enjoyed lettuce, squash and zucchini. Our pumpkins really took off...we've got a TON of pumpkins. I predict a fall party at our house...come one and all to pick out your pumpkins! Hope you are all having a great weekend! I need to figure out what to do now in this HOT HOT weather this afternoon. Guess there's always the pool.

Family Lives in town!

My cousin, Dustin, recently moved here! We finally had him and his family over for dinner. Here is a quick group shot of all the kids...Emma, Olivia, Landon, Marcus (front row); Sydney, Zach (back row).

We ate inside to avoid the mass of bees. We put the kids at the coffee table and it worked out quite well.

Sydney got stuck at the adult table...but she didn't seem to mind. We are already talking about our next get together...it's so nice to finally have family here :-) Can't wait to see more of them!

A Day at the Lake

Watch out David Hasselhauf....here comes Marcus! We were invited to a friend's cabin yesterday and spent the whole day at the lake.

Marcus was a fireball as always. I got some pretty good action shots though.

Olivia was resting.

This is my friend Lorie and her dog Duke. Look how well that dog is trained. She had him sitting here forever! Good Dog Duke!

Daddy pushed Marcus around in the little raft.

Olivia is ready to go swimming!

She took over pushing duties.

Emma found some great sand toys.

Olivia decided to "surf". She had a blast.

"Look Mom! I'm swimming!"

She also pulled me around for a while. What a good girl ;-)

Group photo of the kids. There's Marcus, Jackson, Olivia, Alexis and Emma.

Marcus found a net to go fishing. All he caught was seaweed though.

We took the boat out for a ride too.

Emma sure does love boat rides.

Another quick group shot.

Hi Handsome!

We stopped along the way for another swim. It was HOT outside.

Marc was trying to show Marcus that he really does float. Marcus wasn't buying it though. Marcus' famous words from last weekend...he was floating in the lake and suddenly realized no one was holding him and he couldn't touch...he shouted "I'm sinking, I'm sinking" We all got a kick out of it and tease him now. He doesn't think it's so funny though.

Olivia swam too. The lake was the perfect place to be on such a hot hot day. Thanks Lorie and family for inviting us!

Birthday Boy

Today is Marc's birthday! We took the kids for a little walk this morning before we left. Here is the birthday boy with the kids on the dock.

One cool thing about where we stayed was there was an airport literally a few steps behind us. The planes flew in and out all day long. When we saw the first plane we thought it was going to crash into us since we didn't know there was an actual airport. They literally looked like they were skimming the trees when they were taking off and landing. We decided to walk over and check it out this morning. We even got to see a few take off.

We could literally stand at the end of the runway. Can you see the airplane taking off in the distance?

The kids thought that was pretty cool. Overall it was a great weekend. We went home after this and had a great day at our house. The girls and I went to Costco later in the afternoon and got Marc his Costco cake (sorry, I didn't take pictures). I think Marc had a wonderful birthday.

Starks Save the Day

The Starks dropped by to say hello. Here are the Stark girls, Karissa and Courtney on top and Kylie next to Marc.

Old friends, Marc and Chad.

We were glad to see them...it was fun to have them here to help celebrate Marc's birthday. The bonus was the brought their boat!

We all took turns going out. I went with my three kids and Kyla. Marcus was first on the tube again. Of course he went with his little crush, Kyla.

Then Olivia jumped right on. I wasn't sure if she would go in this tube since it was a little different, but she didn't hesitate at all.

Chad is such a big kid. He went for a turn with Marcus and Kyla too.

He had Marcus trying all sorts of tricks. Marcus had a blast.

Emma wasn't interested in tubing...she was a great flagger though.

I decided to go for a turn with Marcus and Olivia.

It was a blast! WooHoo!!!

Marcus and Julie...say cheese!

Chad gave Marcus a driving lesson. He did great. Chad showed him how to work everything and how to look ahead and steer. It was awesome.

Marcus was pulling Kyla and Olivia. Those two were getting a little crazy by getting on their knees and trying all sorts of things.

What brave girls.

Kyla says "look at me...no hands!" Olivia says "WOW".

Emma got to drive too. She liked that. I guess we've got our driver then; she can do that while the rest of us play in the water.

Olivia and Kyla rode on the tube the whole way back to the dock.

Marcus wanted a funny face picture.

Chad taught Marcus how to pull the girls in too. He did a great job...such a good little helper.

We ended the night with dinner at the restaurant then the Starks went home. Thanks for hanging out with us Starks!